Rafa: Fine. I’m better of my knee, I’m not perfect, we’re not going to deceive anyone. I’m better, I’m with hope (or illution) because I see that in these last two months I’ve taken a step forward, which hadn’t happened the first three (months). I’ll start to play in Abu Dhabi and we’ll see how… how everything goes. I have doubts, like it’s normal. Physically, in regards to the knee, of course one has fears, one doesn’t know how it’s going to respond. All you can do is trust the doctors, trust Rafa (Maymo, must be) and that everything'll work out well but… I accept, and I’m prepared to accept that that at the beginning my knee might not respond well, and I might have to take it easy for some months, to compete, to stop, compete, stop, during the first three months more or less, no?. (0:50) This I have more or less accepted and into my head and I’m prepared for it.
(...) I suppose that to try to be fine, physically and tennistically speaking, for IW/Miami, in order to be able to arrive well trained, well prepared physically, well prepared tennistically, to Montecarlo. (1:10) I’m satisfied by… self-improvement, more than by triumph. I know I have improved myself, personally, and that is what gives me tranquillity and happiness…

if he is not fully recovered I worry why he is deciding to come back yet. Maybe a little over anxious and feeling antsy after so long off already. I can understand, but I hope he doesnt led his emotions override logic.

if he is not fully recovered I worry why he is deciding to come back yet. Maybe a little over anxious and feeling antsy after so long off already. I can understand, but I hope he doesnt led his emotions override logic.

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You just wonder if it's still the knee injury or if he's a hypochondriac who thinks he's more injured than he really is. He refused to give Rosol any credit for the win at Wimbledon. And it makes you wonder that if Nadal had won that match, would he have quit in the 3rd round considering his claims of just how broken and damaged his knee was.

Nah, he just enjoys being the underdog all the time, if he gets back and have so-so or even bad results, it's because of the injuries, long time away from the game, or any other of his infinite excuse list....if he cames back on fire, it's because he is such a great warrior, a grinder, a spartan of tennis...there's always a win-win situation for him

Playing the matches is not the biggest challenge. The challenge is training, as he has always trained harder than he plays (apart from during 2012 Roland Garros when he only trained for about an hour each day or less, due to his knee which he had numbed for the matches). He will have to pick and choose his training a bit more judiciously.

I would be too if I were him. What if he loses every match coming back when he used to be a beast?

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Nadal knows he only needed one knee to beat Djokovic in the 2012 French Open final. Nadal said he had no feeling in his knee after the numbing injection. After you've experienced that and conquered your greatest rival, a bit of pain during the comeback is nothing.

Nadal knows he only needed one knee to beat Djokovic in the 2012 French Open final. Nadal said he had no feeling in his knee after the numbing injection. After you've experienced that and conquered your greatest rival, a bit of pain during the comeback is nothing.

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Well he hasn't played in several months. Maybe hes no longer as he used to be. I'm only speculating with the OP

Q. After what you saw of your opponent, particularly in the last set, do you think he can go on to be a threat in this tournament? Can he achieve more wins? Can he go a long way in the tournament?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. How old is him?

Q. He's 26.
RAFAEL NADAL: He didn't in the past, but you never know what's going on in the future. The thing is today he played great. He played special.
Sure, if he played the way he played the fifth set, you can win against everybody. But I think everybody who follows tennis knows that that's very difficult to do every day.
But if he's able to do it this time, he will have his chance. I wish him all the best.

Nadal knows he only needed one knee to beat Djokovic in the 2012 French Open final. Nadal said he had no feeling in his knee after the numbing injection. After you've experienced that and conquered your greatest rival, a bit of pain during the comeback is nothing.

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What about beating Djokovic OFF CLAY again? Nadal has not conquered that yet!

It's only natural that he is, still as soon as he founds some groove he should have little to no trouble except against the very best.

The nature of Nadal's game is such that even when Nadal himself is not in his best form it is still extremely difficult to handle for the vast majority of players on tour.

People here often see players making too many errors against Nadal or being unable to maintain their leads against him as choking or similar but the reality is that it's so difficult to keep up a high level of aggressive play against the kind of action Nadal puts on the ball (he's pretty unique in that regard).

What about beating Djokovic OFF CLAY again? Nadal has not conquered that yet!

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Well, at the hardcourt slams, they've played:
2010 US Open Final - Nadal in 4
2011 US Open Final - Djokovic in 4
2012 Australian Open Final - Djokovic in 5 (7-5 fifth set, 6 hours)

If Djokovic is ahead in their hardcourt rivalry, its only by the smallest of margins, regarding their slam hardcourt meetings anyway.

And Djokovic leads in the non-slam hardcourt meetings, although Nadal beat Djokovic at the 2010 World Tour Finals in straight sets and Nadal also beat Djokovic at the Olympics. So those are big events.

Nadal hasn't "conquered" Djokovic on hardcourts, but in terms of head2head Nadal is a lot closer to Djokovic on hardcourts than Djokovic is to Nadal on clay. Apart from 2 wins over Nadal in 2011 (Madrid and Rome), Djokovic has done nothing to Nadal on clay.

Q. After what you saw of your opponent, particularly in the last set, do you think he can go on to be a threat in this tournament? Can he achieve more wins? Can he go a long way in the tournament?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. How old is him?

Q. He's 26.
RAFAEL NADAL: He didn't in the past, but you never know what's going on in the future. The thing is today he played great. He played special.
Sure, if he played the way he played the fifth set, you can win against everybody. But I think everybody who follows tennis knows that that's very difficult to do every day.
But if he's able to do it this time, he will have his chance. I wish him all the best.

Sounds like Nadal gave him the credit he deserved.

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You didn't read what came out of Nadal's mouth later when he was finally out of his shock. :lol:

I don't need to. He and his Uncle talked down the Rosol loss as a result of Nadal's knees. But they never mentioned the knee until AFTER Rosol won. :lol: So Nadal again, like Federer, "can't accept defeats with the same calm as he accepts his wins."

I think they should just amputate both legs just above the knee and give him some new hi-tech prosthetics. He would be the ultimate warrior grinding through matches and defeating all his rivals without legs. What a champion!

Well, at the hardcourt slams, they've played:
2010 US Open Final - Nadal in 4
2011 US Open Final - Djokovic in 4
2012 Australian Open Final - Djokovic in 5 (7-5 fifth set, 6 hours)

If Djokovic is ahead in their hardcourt rivalry, its only by the smallest of margins, regarding their slam hardcourt meetings anyway.

And Djokovic leads in the non-slam hardcourt meetings, although Nadal beat Djokovic at the 2010 World Tour Finals in straight sets and Nadal also beat Djokovic at the Olympics. So those are big events.

Nadal hasn't "conquered" Djokovic on hardcourts, but in terms of head2head Nadal is a lot closer to Djokovic on hardcourts than Djokovic is to Nadal on clay. Apart from 2 wins over Nadal in 2011 (Madrid and Rome), Djokovic has done nothing to Nadal on clay.

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I just meant that since Djokovic has defeated Nadal in seven straight finals on all surfaces in 2011, Nadal has not shown that he can conquer Djokovic OFF clay. That remains to be seen.

I just meant that since Djokovic has defeated Nadal in seven straight finals on all surfaces in 2011, Nadal has not shown that he can conquer Djokovic OFF clay. That remains to be seen.

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This is a fair point. Nadal hasn't conquered Djokovic yet, considering Nadal won one slam to prevent Djokovic winning four against him in a row. If he can get a few wins non clay, especially hard, then we can truly say, he has gotten the advantage back.

This is a fair point. Nadal hasn't conquered Djokovic yet, considering Nadal won one slam to prevent Djokovic winning four against him in a row. If he can get a few wins non clay, especially hard, then we can truly say, he has gotten the advantage back.

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Yes, Nadal has obviously been able to win "his surface" slam at the FO and get that turned around which is admirable but we don't know if Nadal will be able to defeat Djokovic at the off clay slams. If anybody can do it, Nadal can. We may never see it because Nadal may be making injury excuses for the next two years and thus never play a "real" match off clay. :lol:

Nadal hasn't "conquered" Djokovic on hardcourts, but in terms of head2head Nadal is a lot closer to Djokovic on hardcourts than Djokovic is to Nadal on clay. Apart from 2 wins over Nadal in 2011 (Madrid and Rome), Djokovic has done nothing to Nadal on clay.

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Yep. Nadal has won bigger events on hc against Djokovic than the other way around on clay.

I just meant that since Djokovic has defeated Nadal in seven straight finals on all surfaces in 2011, Nadal has not shown that he can conquer Djokovic OFF clay. That remains to be seen.

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So that means you are only considering events in 2011. Everybody knows Nadal was better in 2010 (the year Nadal beat Djokovic at the US Open and World Tour Finals) than he was in 2011. It is a bit too "convenient" to disregard results prior to 2011. Would peak Djokovic have beaten peak Nadal? I'm not convinced, considering we are currently watching peak Djokovic and he needed 6 hours to defeat Nadal at the Australian Open (Djokovic's favorite slam surface, and Nadal's 3rd or 4th best slam surface).

So that means you are only considering events in 2011. Everybody knows Nadal was better in 2010 (the year Nadal beat Djokovic at the US Open and World Tour Finals) than he was in 2011. It is a bit too "convenient" to disregard results prior to 2011. Would peak Djokovic have beaten peak Nadal? I'm not convinced, considering we are currently watching peak Djokovic and he needed 6 hours to defeat Nadal at the Australian Open (Djokovic's favorite slam surface, and Nadal's 3rd or 4th best slam surface).

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Look, I don't know what is going to happen in the future and I would not rule Nadal out completely, but the fact is Nadal has not defeated Djokovic off clay since that winning streak of Djokovic's in 2011 and Nadal has not won ANY tournament off clay since 2010.

Let me remind the children in this thread that a doping ban is a lot longer than 6 months. Even recreational drugs is a 2 year ban. When Hingis was banned for cocaine her reading was just 42ng/ml of a cocaine metabolite (such a minute trace that it wouldn't trigger a positive result had a test been administered by the US Military), and that legend was give 2 YEARS just for using a recreational drug. Doping is far more serious. That means once Nadal returns (this month) you kids are going to owe him (and everyone else) an engraved apology.

Let me remind the children in this thread that a doping ban is a lot longer than 6 months. Even recreational drugs is a 2 year ban. When Hingis was banned for cocaine her reading was just 42ng/ml of a cocaine metabolite (such a minute trace that it wouldn't trigger a positive result had a test been administered by the US Military), and that legend was give 2 YEARS just for using a recreational drug. Doping is far more serious. That means once Nadal returns (this month) you kids are going to owe him (and everyone else) an engraved apology.

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You run the ATP do you?

Nobody actually knows the inner business of the ATP and what they would do or would not do for their biggest star players so please don't insult our intelligence. As has been mentioned many times before a top player could be on a provisional suspension and the public would not find out about it if said player was cleared in a tribunal.

Nobody actually knows the inner business of the ATP and what they would do or would not do for their biggest star players so please don't insult our intelligence. As has been mentioned many times before a top player could be on a provisional suspension and the public would not find out about it if said player was cleared in a tribunal.

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Yep its been mentioned many times by people of your ilk.

The funniest thing about this is if you read any tennis forum dating back to around 2009, the consensus among tennis fans was that Nadal would have a career plagued by injures and perhaps retire by age 26. So why the sudden surprise when he misses half a year? He's already won slams for longer than expected (in fact he's already tied the record of 8 straight slam-winning years). The only logical excuse for such brain-fade is that federer's numerous fans will do anything to discredit federer's owner. Surely that's it. Surely they aren't dumb enough to believe Nadal isn't injury prone....

Nobody actually knows the inner business of the ATP and what they would do or would not do for their biggest star players so please don't insult our intelligence. As has been mentioned many times before a top player could be on a provisional suspension and the public would not find out about it if said player was cleared in a tribunal.

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I think YOU should not insult our intelligence. The burden of proof is always on conspiracy theorists .